Qurator Tier Changes

in #qurator6 years ago (edited)

In the previous Tier update we announced we will be going subscription based. The feedback that we got was not all positive. So in this post we hope to make some things clear on why we need to change the Qurator model in order to sustain it while giving decent support to all our members.


Why do we need to gather more funds?


With the price of steem seeing a big drop in the last couple of weeks we will not be able to keep up with leases from the earnings Qurator makes. It is simple math, we earn less while the lease rates stay the same. @scrooger and some other donors have been helping out and sending weekly steem to help cover the leases, hoping that the price of steem would recover. Sadly it didn't and hasn't, so we need to prepare for a long-term scenario. We do not get any whale support, we understand that projects rarely do. No matter how many members we support. Some whales are just too busy, cough, cough, self-voting. Our members are the ones carrying the project thus far.

What happens IF we do NOT change our system?


  • Leases will expire = Smaller upvotes for everyone

  • Members will undelegate their SP from @qurator because they are seeing smaller upvotes (already happening)

  • Qurator will be unable to do anything but give even less support and upvotes

It's a snowball effect and Q will slowly degenerate and then find a new balance at a much lower rate.
Only the long-term supporters will keep their delegated steem with @qurator while the others will look for something else to delegate to.

Below is a comparison of the current rates of upvotes we give versus the upvotes if we use only the profits that Qurator makes

Current (with donations) vs Without donors' help

Picture2.jpg

That is a big difference and if we did not chip in to keep the numbers up, the above rates in bold, would be active right now.


So how can we fix this?


Option 1


We thought of increasing the registration fee, but we did increase the fee in the past and recently too.

0 - 100 members the fee was 1 STEEM/SBD
100 - 1000 members the price was 2 STEEM/SBD
1000 and up is currently 4 STEEM

We really did not want to do this since 4 Steem is already a bit pricey for new members. The fee will stay the same for a long time more.

Option 2


Increase the minimum upvote weight for T1 and T2. This was the initial idea but since not many members can upvote at high values we know many minnows will fall into lower tiers. This is not what we want since we want to focus on minnows more. This was the main reason we went to a subscription-based system.

This way, even though minnows who post a lot and do not have SP to delegate or the upvote strength to upvote for a higher tier (if we upped the minimum upvote for T1 and T2), they would still be able to purchase a subscription to a higher tier as and when they are able to.

Option 3


No longer accept upvotes for Tier 1 and Tier 2 and go purely for a subscription based system where members would pay a monthly fee for higher Tiers. That way we would generate a decent amount of steem in order to cover leases and maybe even get some new ones in the mix.

This was not a popular option and it also negatively affected those who did not post that much but still wanted the bigger Tier 1 or Tier 2 upvote. This is the group that gave us the backlash; and we re-looked at the whole re-structuring model to also consider them.


The Revised Solution (a mix of options 2 and 3)


- NO CHANGE IN REGISTRATION FEES.

- Tier 1

OLD: Upvote 4 times a week on any @qurator post with a minimum of $0.01 or at least 100% upvote if you do not have a $0.01 upvote.

NEW: Upvote 7 times a week on any @qurator posts with a minimum upvote of at least $0.03 OR pay 1 Steem per month subscription.

- Tier 2

OLD: Upvote 7 times a week on any @qurator posts with a minimum of $0.01 or at least 100% upvote if you do not have a $0.01 upvote.

NEW: Upvote 7 times a week on any @qurator posts with a minimum upvote of at least $0.05 OR pay the 2 Steem per month subscription.


What about all the members who don't have a $0.03 upvote yet?


We have not forgotten about our minnows and we will still be offering a higher tier if they choose to support Qurator.

Upvote a minimum of 7 posts per week at 100% and still get placed in Tier 1 instead of Tier 0.

This way everyone has the option to go the upvote or subscription route for higher Tiers.

Everything else still stays the same, Tiers still stack with delegations and you can still access T1 and T2 for 100 and 200 SP delegations.

Note: You can stack to Tier 2 if your upvote is currently worth $0.03 (T1) and you pay the 1 steem (T1) ie: T1 + T1 = T2


New member bonus!


Since new members pay the 4 Steem registration fee, we will be offering them T2 membership for 30 days to enjoy upon registration. This should help them get some of the funds back from what they spent for the registration fee.

NOTE: All members who joined in April will be given Tier 2 for 30 days starting May 1st.


Qurator is a community project.


What exactly does this mean? It means that we are only as strong as the community makes us. With every upvote and every delegation you are supporting 1200+ members. Not just yourself or Qurator. We give back everything we make and we take pride in giving back more than we get from the community.

In reality, if you want bigger upvotes, then support the project.

There are hundreds of members who chose to upvote at $0.01 since that is the minimum. They could have given a little bit more, yet they didn't. Most of our members are minnows and so many upvotes do not even come close to $0.01 yet, we still offer them Tier 2 upvotes since they are the members who need the most support.

Keep in mind that members gave their $0.01 upvote to Qurator and we post around 10 times a week, so a total of $0.10. What did you get in return? Our Tier 2 upvote is currently worth around $0.14. Post seven times a week and that's almost 10 times more that you enjoy compared to what you give (minus curation from both parties of course).

There is a little tool that can show you how much you have supported Qurator and how much Qurator has supported you.

Visit Mysteemitfriends and type your name in there to get an idea of the type of support we offer. Reverse 'Voter' and 'Author', to make a comparison.

Qe.png

We are also aware of a silent group who may have registered awhile back, and left their membership idle while getting Qurator upvotes to their posts, although small upvotes but nevertheless are still being supported by Qurator. They are still in Tier 0 but may have grown from the time they joined us.

Some of these members are in the above 500SP or even 1000SP range and above.
We invite them to participate a little more, with a better support to Qurator. It is a win-win situation as you also stand to enjoy higher upvotes.

So to make a long story short. If everyone would just support a little extra, it will benefit everyone, including yourself.

The community decides how big we are, we don't.


This might seem like a big change and maybe we should have done it a long time ago, then we wouldn't be in this situation. With more members we need more support, it's as simple as that.


The new changes will take effect on MAY 1st.


All Qurator Tiers

TIERRequirementsPerks
Basic 4 STEEM registration fee. Upvote for life from Qurator ProjectBasic upvote for life from Qurator.
Delegate 100SP OR Upvote 7 times a week on any @qurator posts with a minimum upvote of at least $0.03 OR pay 1 Steem per month subscription.**Tier 1 upvotes
Delegate 200SP OR Upvote 7 times a week on any @qurator posts with a minimum upvote of at least $0.05 OR pay the 2 Steem per month subscription.Tier 2 upvotes
Delegate 300SPTier 3 upvotes
Delegate 400SPTier 4 upvotes
Delegate 500SPTier 5 upvotes

Elite Tiers

TIERRequirementsPerks
Delegate 1000SP+ to @quratorCopper weight - T5 x 2
Delegate 1500SP+ to @quratorSilver weight - T5 x 3
Delegate 2000SP+ to @quratorGold weight - T5 x 4
Delegate 2500SP+ to @quratorPlatinum weight - T5 x 5
Delegate 5000SP+ to @quratorDiamond weight - T5 x 12 + Rotational Resteems

We went for as many options as possible to climb the Qurator Tiers. This might be a bit confusing but we are always on Discord if you need any help. =)

Options.png
Click to enlarge

Like what we do? Consider voting for us as a steemit witness.


Sort:  

Great explanation what you've provided us. I think it's the best long-term solution so that we can enjoy the benefits of belonging to this superb community. Resteemed for all my followers to read and be part of @qurator project!

Thank you for your support. Hopefully now everything is clear and all the members can find an option that suits them.

You have collected your daily Power Up! This post received an upvote worth of 0.67$.
Learn how to Power Up Smart here!

I appreciate the effort put into writing the new Q-post. I think it is to the point, clear, and balanced. Many thanks to all those who put their considerable effort to put this post together.

In 81 Days! Enough said!!

That is some impressive result you have there!
Thank you for all the support you've been giving us in those 81 days.
Full Steem ahead :)

where did you get that calculator? That is awesome :) And thank you in advance!

Just above. Scroll up!

Honestly, you guys have run the most professional, transparent, thoughtful, useful, and fair community that I have seen on Steemit to date. Well done.

Even the fact that you are taking the time and effort to listen to people's concerns and adjust in a way that considers all viewpoints is highly commendable. I for one am totally on board with the new system. I have been trying to support Q as much as I can (100 SP delegation and always 100% upvotes) and still always thought I was getting the better end of the deal. I loved looking at my stats because now I know how true that is.

SS to Q.JPG
Q to SS.JPG

That is over six times (not factoring delegation) what I am receiving AND with less than half the number of posts. If I was posting everyday it would likely be a 10x or more return.
Bravo and thank you.

Cheers,
Sam

Thank you Sam! Nothing is more rewarding than knowing that the effort we do put into the project pays off :) Gives us the power to keep on pushing. And you - members let us do what we do. How can we not listen?
Your starts are great! Thank you for your support and just keep on Steeming.

I can only agree!
Investing 4 STEEM and upvoting at least 7 times a week brought me these results:




Now I will fall back to TIER 1 if I understood everything correctly (upvoting 7+ times a week with 100% which is 0.01x SBD now).
I would love to give more than only the small upvotes but I simply don't have more to offer yet.
Even if the ROI goes down for me now I'm still very happy with the @qurator because it's not only about upvoting here.
There is a great community also on Discord.
A lot of people invest their time to find posts mentioned in the daily posts - and I'm still proud I was a chosen one once :)
So, yes! Keep on the great work even in difficult times.
My support is guaranteed - even if it's still small because of limited recourses.

Your support means more that you may think. Thank you for sticking with us.
Keep up the good work and it will all work out :) We will make sure of it!
See you on Discord :)

I completely understand your urge to take this tough descision. Your previous post was a bit confusing. This one looks really convincing and a great solution. Please continue your good work @qurator. Though I'm a minnow, I'm really happy to support your work with a 100% upvote on your posts.

Very happy to hear that the change is more clear and acceptable now. Hopefully this solution will work for everyone and we will be able to support all our members even more!
Thank you for your support, it is very appreciated :)

So now i am pushed back to tier 1 from tier 2, even after supporting you with as much i can. Using autovote too.
I have upvoted your every post since joining. So can't i stay in tier 2.

The change above is needed and will help support all the members and give highest possible upvotes to all Tiers instead of making them smaller and smaller.
We also want to keep supporting every single member. There are extra options added for members that do not have enough SP to delegate yet so it is easier to get to higher Tier and get bigger vote than T2.

Lets see how its goes.

It seems you may have something but for the moment, I have no more patience in my cup for all this. Your proposals of late have disappointed. Adding weight requirements are a good thing. I might also suggest that somehow (I know it would be difficult to implement) but somehow, if qurites are encouraged/rewarded for visits to the posts that you place in the daily promotion posts.. by visit, i mean a comment (it can't be fair to enforce an upvote as well I think).

Users should engage more - rewarding upvotes on your daily posts goes a distance, But I think it is still not far enough if community engagement and learning are the objectives.

@oneazania

@scrooger here. The owner of Qurator.

I normally do not comment or speak my mind that easily as I am extremely patient and understanding. Sadly, after several attempts, I still can't understand you.

You registered with us. Same as all the other users. A fee that must be paid since the beginning of Qurator.
Then, you did start to get your upvotes. Higher tier upvotes since you were supporting us as well, and we were grateful for every bit of support we gott. Later, we tried to change to a subscription service to keep supporting our ever growing member base and to stay afloat with the low price of steem (remember whales don't join us, mostly minnows with little that can not offer that much in return). We had to make some changes or risk slowly imploding. You were so unhappy and immediately attacked us with a rant post of your own against Qurator. A first in Qurator history. Qurator tried to keep our cool and so did I. I know one of my mods replied to you stating some facts and trying to get our point across. Sadly that failed as well.

We tried to change and we saw quite a few members did not like the change. We went back to the drawing board and changed again. This time with multiple options for everyone. So far the response has been very positive and many Qurites were happy with the changes and accepted them.

Still, you feel we are not doing enough. We are giving you so much more in the long run. If you are here for the short run, sure you will not make money with Qurator, but if money is your only vision for Steemit then, by all means, go for upvote bots instead of community projects. Steemit is a marathon, not a race. We are all here for the long run and the members who are showing support has seen great returns on their content. Not just with upvotes but with extra followers and comments. We host several contests and have an active Discord Post-Promotion with some extra comments and upvote rules in place. Yet, you feel this is not enough. Your opinion and I will respect that. Like I have said many times before, we are a community project, you either join the team and we all do better and have fun or you can choose to show no support and get the minimum support in return. Don't be sour about it then. The options are there.

If the service is still not too your liking and we have failed you so miserably, then I suggest you can ask for a refund and we will all go our merry way. There are many support systems in place and you can join them as well. Steemit is huge! The negativity around Qurator is something I am not happy about. We try our best, day in and day out. 215 Daily Qurator Editions, yes we are here DAILY. We don't get to take a day off. We constantly work on it all to make it better.

So, please I am giving you the option. Let the negativity go or request a refund. That way you will still win since you get your money back and the upvotes we gave you in the past.

Yours sincerely,

@scrooger

@scrooger

Thanks for your response.

I only read this morning that many other people did not agree with the proposal from last week. It was also at this time I read the latest proposal. I have to repeat it: it is a better proposal.

Sincerely?

I don't smile on a prompt in order to gain acceptance; neither do I make harsh statements about ungrateful, foolish or salty users, in order to curry favour. Such actions do not build community and they have never been in my repertoire. If I had joined that bandwagon last week, you might have thought I am your best ally. Because I expressed my true and genuine opinion, you react by asking me to leave. Not good.

When I am critical of something, it is for good reason and I believe I make my points clear. It is always good to read a response that shows the other person is not entering the conversation with bias or grievance that doesn't apply to what I said. I can look past all of this nastiness, including the offer you are making for a refund.

I don't want nor do I think anyone should ask for a refund. If you send me one, I will assume you are throwing me out and that would be the end of it.

Sincerely,
Thomas

edit: i am in this for community, not business. I am in this for a long haul, not pump and dump. I don't know if upvotes have reached 2 Steem or not. I have never cared about that. I have adjusted my autosteem so that next month I can hopefully start giving 0.03 in votes. Until then, I prefer remaining at tier 0 - you have explained how our tiny votes are not enough to sustain the project. I prefer not receiving more in upvotes than my upvotes are worth

@qurator has been nothing but transparent and honest towards every single member since day one. Every person who's involved and knows the project can see that miles away.

I was avoiding answering you as well, because I sincerely thought you were missing something regarding how the project works, and it was only an easy to solve misunderstanding. I was wrong.
Your answer above completely changed my point of view.
Apparently, no matter the solution we come up with, it will never please you, and it will be only used for your "eloquent" manipulation of the facts. How can you say:

" I only read this morning that many other people did not agree with the proposal from last week."

You were all over that particular post, where we made the monthly subscription solution announcement with your comments. So, once again, I don't understand you. Were you commenting without reading what others wrote?

On that same day you decided to remove your votes from our posts and even removed your witness votes and unfollowed @qurator as well. A very premature and unthought decision for someone who claims to support the project, to say the least.

I subscribe every single word @scrooger wrote above.
And for the record, no one is asking you to leave, we are giving you all the possible options.
The last thing we want is to keep you, or anyone else, "hostage" from a project that you don't believe in, and according to you, has nothing but bad things to offer.
Cheers.

Your opinions are noted.

At least you have a sense of humor. There's still hope.

Lol, are you sure you want to use the phrase Final Solution?

Yes... How about A Revised Solution, or even A Compromise.

You make a good point, we never know what the crypto world is going to do next. Edited

Just in time, before it is recorded into the blockchain for all eternity!

I will take a diamond membership for that! (joking... Unless you are going to offer it!)

This is a perfect solution for everyone concerned. I still say we (members) always get more than @qurator receives; especially with their time and I for one, am truly grateful. And, thank you @qurator for your support! You will always have mine. : )

Thank you for the lovely comment and all the support. We are not gonna stop supporting all the members. Oh no :) This is just one of the tradition to make everything work better.
Once again, thank you :)

Explanation to overcome current problem looks to be a good move forward, glad you have found a way to continue supporting minnows, keep up the good work.

Thank you Joan for your support. We owed the explanation with some extra adjustments. We want to give the maximum support we can to everyone and this seems to be the right solution now.

thank you @qurator, great effort to solve the problem, hopefully can solve this problem.

Thank you! That is the plan :)

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